The Indians hope to bounce back from that monstrosity last night, as Josh Tomlin faces off against Yordano Ventura in Kansas City. Tomlin has allowed 4 ER or more in five starts dating back to June 17 (a stretch covering six games), and was pegged with the loss in four of those five games. The only exception? His one-hit shutout against the Mariners on June 28. You remove that one game and things have looked somewhat grim for Tomlin on the mound. Outside of that start against Seattle and a start on June 7 against the Rangers, Tomlin has allowed at least one home run per game. Home runs happen; you leave a ball out over the plate and someone makes you pay for your mistake. What’s a concern to me about Tomlin’s home runs, is that they more often than not come with runners on base. Out of Tomlin’s 14 game appearances this season (13 starts and 1 out of the bullpen), he’s allowed home runs in 12 of them. Six of them have come with the bases empty, causing minimal damage. However, with eight of them, there were runners on base – five 2-run shots, and three 3-run shots. Tomlin doesn’t walk a lot of people, so a lot of these baserunners are via hits.
In Tomlin’s last start against the Tigers on Sunday (the only game Detroit won in the series), he allowed 4 ER on 6 hits in 4.1 IP. Tomlin faced the Royals on one occasion so far this season, on July 4 in Cleveland. He gave up 5 ER on 10 hits in 5.2 IP, and took the loss in a 7-1 game. The KC offense batted .385/.385/.654 against him, as Salvador Perez led the way as he went 3 for 3. Tomlin not only needs to pitch well tonight, but he needs to stay in the game until ideally the 7th inning or so. Corey Kluber‘s fantastic start yesterday eased the burden somewhat, but you still had to use a chunk of your bullpen in a 14th inning game. Tomlin could ease the burden tonight by eating some innings.
Ventura is coming off an outing against the Red Sox where he allowed 6 ER on 9 hits in 4.1 IP; his worst outing of the season so far. However, he has given the Indians fits ever since he was promoted from the minors late last season. In three appearances, Ventura is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA against the Tribe, and the Indians are hitting .218/.256/.269 (a .525 OPS) against him. The three Indians with the most success against Ventura? Michael Brantley (.400/.400/.700), Carlos Santana (.333/.400/.333), and Jason Kipnis (.300/.300/.300). Ryan Raburn, David Murphy, and Mike Aviles are hitless against Ventura in his career so far. The only one of those three in tonight’s lineup is Murphy.
This could be a rough one tonight. A slumping offense, mixed with a pitcher who they’ve had problems against in the past, and a starting pitcher in Tomlin that has been allowing a good chunk of earned runs lately, does not sound like a winning formula. The bats really need to come to life tonight.
Lineups:
Indians:
Jason Kipnis, 2B
Chris Dickerson, LF
Michael Brantley, CF
Carlos Santana, 1B
Nick Swisher, DH
Yan Gomes, C
David Murphy, RF
Jose Ramirez, SS
Royals:
Lorenzo Cain, RF
Omar Infante, 2B
Alex Gordon, LF
Salvador Perez, C
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Raul Ibanez, 1B
Nori Aoki, DH
Alcides Escobar, SS
Jarrod Dyson, CF
Another “Little League home run.” You guys at IPL are good at trivia – has any other team given up LLHRs in back-to-back games?
Hmm, that is a very good question. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, but will have to see if I can find something.